The Kelly-Holiday aerial photography portion of the collection consists of 3,753 4” x 5” film negatives and six Hollinger boxes of 1,076 photographs by Kelly-Holiday Photography. There is also a small amount of ephemeral material related to the collection, such as business correspondence and notes. The collection includes aerial photographs of neighborhoods, businesses, factories, landmarks and natural features in a geographically broad area that is mainly centered in Los Angeles County but ranges from Ventura County to the Salton Sea, from Long Beach to Las Vegas. Subject strengths in the collection are downtown Los Angeles, Port of Los Angeles, Central Manufacturing District, Huntington Park, Long Beach, Malibu, Palm Springs, Hollywood, Disneyland, Dodger Stadium, as well as shopping malls and drive-in theatres. The collection serves as a historical record of regional change during the growth in industry and population in the post-war years.

The Kelly-Holiday photography studio was located at 2765 E. Florence Ave., Huntington Park, and was owned by business partners and photographers Howard Kelly and George Holiday. They started the studio in 1954 and specialized in commercial and aerial photography in Southern California. In an email to Christina Rice from Howard D. Kelly dated March 20, 2010, Howard Kelly stated that he was the original photographer for the files and described the equipment used, “We had two of our own planes, one small and one for oblique photography and a Stagger Beech for mapping. Now days the oblique work is by helicopter. I also still have the original cameras that took the photos, x-military WW2 K-20 manual, and K-25 24V electric motor drive…5 inch roll film to make the 4x5 inch negatives.” Oblique photographs are aerial photographs taken with the camera axis intentionally inclined between horizontal and vertical to show a bird’s-eye view of the landscape. The photographs were taken for commercial uses and mapping and clients include real estate developers, business owners, advertising agencies and city governments. There is an entry for Howard Dewitt Kelly in Who’s Who In the West, 1978-1979, 16th ed. Born in Los Angeles on April 18, 1932, Mr. Kelly attended Pasadena City College and the University of California at Los Angeles, and graduated with a BA from the University of Southern California in 1959. He was a partner in Kelly-Holiday Photography from 1954-1957, and prior to that served in the United States Naval Reserve from 1950-1954. Subsequently, he was the owner of Dan P. Watts Photo Murals, the president and general manager of Kelly’s Industrial Photography, Inc., and the vice president and general manager of Photography Associates, Inc. In addition, Howard Kelly was a staff instructor at the West Coast School of Photography in Santa Barbara and also contributed articles on photography technique to trade journals. He retired in 2008 and resides in San Gabriel, California.

There are six photograph boxes in the collection (3 linear ft. [1 Hollinger box = .5 linear feet]). They are labeled General Print Collection boxes 20-25. The negative portion of the collection spans four file drawers.

Any reproduction, redistribution, publication, or other use, by any means, without prior written permission is prohibited. Photocopies, copy prints and digital images can be provided. With the proper fees and permissions, many images can be used in commercial and non-profit applications. For personal and commercial uses of the Library's images, the Library will send to the user a Commercial Use Agreement which states access rights to images and copyright restrictions. This agreement must be returned to the library before the order will be processed. It will also state proper credit to be used for the product whenever photographs are used in commercial or non-profit situations. Further information regarding Use and Reproduction may be found on the Library’s website: http://www.lapl.org/catalog/photo_order_info.html

This collection is stored on-site at the Central Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. It is closed for research. Photograph collections may be browsed, digitally, via the Los Angeles Public Library website at http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/photosearch_pageADV.jsp